Action Comedy Written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember Directed by Peter Segal I approach films based on old TV shows with suspicion, but the comic potential of Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart lowered my guard. But while Get Smart has its charms, it doesn't fulfill that potential by a long shot. Carell wisely … Continue reading Get Smart
Month: June 2008
New PFA Schedule
The July/August Pacific Film Archive schedule arrived in yesterday's mail. It makes me want to move permanently into that theater. They're running five series this summer, honoring a director, a cinematographer, a novelist, a studio, and an aspect ratio. The studio is United Artists, receiving its yet another 90th anniversary retrospective. But unlike the UA … Continue reading New PFA Schedule
What’s Screening, June 27-July 3, 2008
It's been quite a week. I come home from vacation to discover that my site has been hacked and is infecting PCs. I cleaned out the infection immediately (or more precisely, someone at Bayflicks' host, IX Web Hosting, did it), but making sure it doesn't happen again feels like a full-time job. You can read … Continue reading What’s Screening, June 27-July 3, 2008
Jewish Film Festival
Two of my biggest passions--Judaism and cinema--come together this summer like they do every summer for the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. (Come to think of it, some of my other big passions--music, history, and sex--turn up here, as well.) The organizers are calling the 28th SFIFF the largest one ever, with “70 films from … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival
Cocteau and Kahlo at SFMOMA
Just before I left on vacation I received a press release for two upcoming series at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I’m finally now getting to it. As the name implies, Jean Cocteau: The Orphic Trilogy screens only three films, Le Sang d’un poète (Blood of a Poet), Orphée (Orpheus), and Le Testament … Continue reading Cocteau and Kahlo at SFMOMA
Apologies and Technical Issues
I have a lot of apologizing to do. As a PC World columnist, I often admonish readers for not backing up and keeping their security software up-to-date. And while I do everything possible to keep my PC and data safe, I haven’t been so diligent about my blog. And thus, when I got back from … Continue reading Apologies and Technical Issues
Bayflicks Hijacked and Technical Problems
I came back from vacation to discover the bayflicks.net web site hijacked I believe the hijacking happened on Saturday, June 14. I removed it today. If you've visited the site in the last week, and have a Windows-based PC, it's possible that your computer is infected with Trojan-Downloader.JS.Agent downloader. You can read up on it … Continue reading Bayflicks Hijacked and Technical Problems
Movies for the Week of June 20
I only published one post this week: A review of Love and Honor. But I have an excuse: I've been gone all week on vacation. In fact, I'm gone now. I wrote this newsletter more than a week ago and set it to go live at the appropriate time. Festival-wise, Another Hole in the Head … Continue reading Movies for the Week of June 20
Love and Honor
Samurai drama Written by Yoji Yamada, Emiko Hiramatsu, and Ichiro Yamamoto Directed by Yoji Yamada Yoji Yamada makes Samurai films like nobody else's. Past works like Twilight Samurai and The Hidden Blade looked at the legendary warriors as lower-middleclass drones, worrying about money as they perform their dull peacetime jobs for an indifferent lord for … Continue reading Love and Honor
Movies for the Week of June 13
First, let me remind you that this is the last Bayflicks newsletter to be sent to the old mailing list. If you haven't yet joined the new mailing list, go to https://bayflicks.net/subscribe-to-newsletter/, enter your email address in the appropriate field, and click the Subscribe button. Within a few minutes you'll receive a confirmation email from … Continue reading Movies for the Week of June 13
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